Performance evaluation of smart prefabricated concrete elements

Daniele Zonta,Matteo Pozzi,Oreste S. Bursi 국제구조공학회 2007 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.3 No.4

This paper deals with the development of an innovative distributed construction system based on smart prefabricated concrete elements for the real-time condition assessment of civil infrastructure. So far, two reduced-scale prototypes have been produced, each consisting of a 0.2?.3?.6 m RC beam specifically designed for permanent instrumentation with 8 long-gauge Fiber Optic Sensors (FOS) at the lower edge. The sensing system is Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG)-based and can measure finite displacements both static and dynamic with a sample frequency of 625 Hz per channel. The performance of the system underwent validation in the laboratory. The scope of the experiment was to correlate changes in the dynamic response of the beams with different damage scenarios, using a direct modal strain approach. Each specimen was dynamically characterized in the undamaged state and in various damage conditions, simulating different cracking levels and recurrent deterioration scenarios, including cover spalling and corrosion of the reinforcement. The location and the extent of damage are evaluated by calculating damage indices which take account of changes in frequency and in strain-mode-shapes. The outcomes of the experiment demonstrate how the damage distribution detected by the system is fully compatible with the damage extent appraised by inspection.

Soil Conditioning for EPB Shield Tunnelling

Daniele Peila 대한토목학회 2014 KSCE JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Vol.18 No.3

The use of conditioning agents that change the mechanical and hydraulic behavior of a cohesionless soil into an impervious andplastic paste is the key point for the correct management of EPB (Earth Pressure Balance) shield tunneling. The design of soilconditioning sets and the choice of the best products to be used require special laboratory tests. These tests should be carried outalready at the design stage to allow to check if the needed results can be achieved in the soil to be excavated. In the paper an overviewof the different type of laboratory tests that can be used on cohesionless soils are presented and the most important results that can beobtained are discussed.

Sensory trick frames: A new device for blepharospasm patients

Daniele Lorenzano,Steven Tansley,Daniel G. Ezra 대한파킨슨병및이상운동질환학회 2019 Journal Of Movement Disorders Vol.12 No.1

Objective To determine whether the use of unique customized spectacles provided with modified side arms may be helpful in reducing benign essential blepharospasm (BEB) in patients describing periocular sensory tricks (ST). Methods A prospective descriptive study of patients with BEB with positive periocular or temporal region ST phenomenon response under the care of the Botox Clinic at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, UK. Nine consecutive patients with BEB describing ST were recruited, and the disease frequency and severity were assessed with the Jankovic Rating Scale (JRS) and the Blepharospasm Disability Index (BSDI) before and after the use of the sensory trick frames (STF). Results A reduction in the score was noted in both severity (p = 0.0115) and frequency patterns (p = 0.0117) in the JRS in patients using the STF. A significant reduction of the BSDI score was also observed (p = 0.0314). Conclusion All the patients selected and fitted with the STF had a reduction in spasms and related symptoms. This new device may be helpful in some selected BEB patients who previously responded positively to periocular pressure alleviating maneuvers.

A structured framework for optimizing high-intensity focused ultrasound ablative treatment in localized prostate cancer

Daniele Castellani,Alessandro Branchi,Redi Claudini,Luca Gasparri,Tiziana Pierangeli,Elena Ravasi,Marco Dellabella 대한비뇨의학회 2019 Investigative and Clinical Urology Vol.60 No.4

High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) treatment has recently been pursued to reduce radical treatment-related morbidity in low-to-intermediate-risk localized prostate cancer (PCa), especially in older men. The aim of this study was to develop a dedicated framework for HIFU therapy. All clinical data, such as risk categories, magnetic resonance with functional parametric imaging, and histopathology, are essential for driving proper HIFU treatment. All needed data can be added to the framework to localize areas that need to be treated. Once PCa areas have been featured, quantified, and located, planning can be adapted to drive accurate HIFU treatment. Our planning framework may be useful for all ablative therapies in order to standardize treatment for both clinical and scientific purposes.

Design of a TMD solution to mitigate wind-induced local vibrations in an existing timber footbridge

Daniele Bortoluzzi,Sara Casciati,Lorenzo Elia,Lucia Faravelli 국제구조공학회 2015 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.16 No.3

The design of a passive control solution based on tuned mass dampers (TMD’s) requires the estimation of the actual masses involved in the undesired vibration. This task may result not so straightforward as expected when the vibration resides in subsets of different structural components. This occurs, for instance, when the goal is to damp out vibrations on stays. The theoretical aspects are first discussed and a design process is formulated. For sake of exemplification, a multiple TMD’s configurations is eventually conceived for an existing timber footbridge located in the municipality of Trasaghis (North-Eastern Italy). The bridge span is 83 m and the deck width is 3.82 m.

Space-Time Discretization of Hyperbolic Equations with Variable Collocation Points

Daniele Funaro 한국산업응용수학회 2005 한국산업응용수학회 학술대회 논문집 Vol.- No.-

In the field of scalar hyperbolic equations, we take into consideration the idea of building numerical schemes using two grids: the first one to represent the solution and the second one to collocate the equation. This approach is based on the experience already gained in the approximation of boundary-value elliptic-type problems (see for instance [1]), as well as in the field of functional or integral-type equations (see [2]). In order to show that the same approach can be used with success also for time-dependent problems, we study finite-difference approximations of first-order scalar hyperbolic equation in one space dimension. The representation grid is the usual uniform grid in the space-time plane. The discrete values of the solution are then assumed to be computed on a six-points stencil of such a representation grid. The approximating equations are deduced after collocation at a new point inside the stencil. It turns out that the possibility of varying the collocation point, gives a lot of freedom in the construction of the approximation method. First of all, this allows for the rediscovery of old methods and their critical analysis from a different point of view. Secondly, we have now the chance, by establishing a suitable relation between the representation and the collocation grids, to introduce new methods. Since the position of the collocation point (two degrees of freedom) characterizes the approximation scheme, we can come out with a wide family of finite-difference methods based on the six-points stencil. There will be actually three parameters after introducing another coefficient v related to numerical viscosity. This family includes most of the classical linear schemes (implicit or explicit) for hyperbolic equations, such as the Crank-Nicolson or the Lax-Wendroff methods. The results of a stability and consistency analysis are given and numerical examples show the performances of the different methods according to the choice of the parameters. We discuss experiments for some linear conservation laws. The problem of the determination of the parameters providing the best approximation is also addressed. In order to show that the idea can be adapted to more complicated problems, we also discuss some experiments for the non-linear Burgers equation. Generalizations to higher order methods (based on a larger stencil), or to different numerical techniques, can be, in principle, also taken into account. It is evident from the experiments that the qualitative behavior of the approximated solutions is quite sensitive to the choice of the parameters, so that, further theoretical improvements may concern with the detection of the "right way" to choose the parameters. This question has not unique answer, since it involves too many different aspects, such as the elimination of the oscillations, the preservation of the numerical accuracy far from the discontinuities, the minimization of the artificial viscosity, etc.

Essential Oil Composition and Antimicrobial Activity of Angelica archangelica L. (Apiaceae) Roots

Daniele Fraternale,Guido Flamini,Donata Ricci 한국식품영양과학회 2014 Journal of medicinal food Vol.17 No.9

In this paper, the chemical composition and the antimicrobial activity of the essential oil of Angelica archangelica L. (Apiaceae) roots from central Italy were analyzed. The major constituents of the oil were a-pinene (21.3%), d-3-carene (16.5%), limonene (16.4%) and a-phellandrene (8.7%). The oil shows a good antimicrobial activity against Clostridium difficile, Clostridium perfringens, Enterococcus faecalis, Eubacterium limosum, Peptostreptococcus anaerobius, and Candida albicans with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 0.25, 0.25, 0.13, 0.25, 2.25, and 0.50% v/v, respectively. A weaker antimicrobial activity against bifidobacteria and lactobacilli—very useful in the intestinal microflora—has also been shown with MIC values > 4.0% v/v.

In Vitro Anticollagenase and Antielastase Activities of Essential Oil of Helichrysum italicum subsp. italicum (Roth) G. Don

Daniele Fraternale,Guido Flamini,Roberta Ascrizzi 한국식품영양과학회 2019 Journal of medicinal food Vol.22 No.10

The chemical composition of the essential oil of flowering aerial parts of Helichrysum italicum subsp. italicum cultivated in central Italy, Marche region, was analyzed by means of gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Seventy-eight components, accounting for 98.71% of the whole essential oil composition, were identified and quantified. Neryl acetate showed the largest relative abundance in the composition, accounting for 15.75% of the oil, followed by α-pinene (8.21%); 4,6,9-trimethyl-8-decene-3,5-dione, (Italidione I), (7.34%); ar-curcumene and β-selinene (5.37%); γ-curcumene (4.83%); nerol (4.75%); α-selinene (4.68%); limonene (4.55%); linalool (4.42%), and 2,4,6,9-tetramethyl-8-decene-3,5-dione (Italidione II), (4.26%). The oil inhibited in vitro collagenase and elastase activities, with IC50 values of 36.99 ± 1.52 and 135.43 ± 6.32 μg/mL, respectively. Neryl acetate, nerol, and linalool, distinctive compounds of the oil obtained from this plant, tested alone or in mixture, at the same percentages shown in the essential oil, exhibited no activity against the two enzymes. On the contrary, α-pinene and limonene, tested alone and in mixture, showed inhibitory activity on both collagenase and elastase.

Some algebraic and topological properties of the nonabelian tensor product

Daniele Ettore Otera,Francesco G. Russo,Corrado Tanasi 대한수학회 2013 대한수학회보 Vol.50 No.4

Several authors investigated the properties which are invariant under the passage from a group to its nonabelian tensor square. In the present note we study this problem from the viewpoint of the classes of groups and the methods allow us to prove a result of invariance for some geometric properties of discrete groups.

On the Asymptotic Accuracy of Reduced–Order Models

Daniele Casagrande,Wiesław Krajewski,Umberto Viaro 제어·로봇·시스템학회 2017 International Journal of Control, Automation, and Vol.15 No.5

Popular model reduction methods can easily be adapted to retain the asymptotic response to inputs withrational transform. To this purpose, the forced response of the high-order system is decomposed into a transientand a steady-state component. Then, the reduced-order model is obtained by combining the unaltered steady-statecomponent with an approximation of the transient component. Examples show that forcing the reduced-order modelto retain the steady-state component does not compromise the transient accuracy.